Thursday, August 12, 2004

Antonia's

A couple of weeks ago, we finally got around to going toAntonia's in Davis Square. It's a teeny Italian place which hasapparently recently changed hands. They were unusually busy for aSunday night (or so they implied) and it took them longer thanexpected to seat us. The ambiance and decor were nice, and the airconditioning mostly managed to keep up.

We started out with a couple of appetizers, an eggplant dish and thejalapeno raviolis. Both dishes were good, though I wished thejalapeno raviolis had been a bit spicier. There was the hint ofjalapeno flavor and a good garlic flavor, but not anything I'd callspicy. The eggplant appetizer was quite good as well.

For dinner, I had the Gnocchi Carbonara which was outstanding.Wonderful gnocchi with an exceptionally done carbonara sauce. Theymanaged to strike an impressive balance; cream based sauces so oftenseem to be too heavy or too mild and this amnaged to find a delicioussavory "sweet spot". The Fettucini Alfredo, on the other hand, fellsolidly on the too mild side of things. It was entirely pasable, justa bit on the bland side. Next time I think we'll be getting twognocchi dishes.

The prices were quite reasonable and the service was polite andhelpful, if a bit slow and occasionally seeming to have difficultyunderstanding English. The view into Davis Square adds to theambiance and let's you stop at JP Licks for ice cream afterwards.Overall, definitely recommended, if you get the gnocchi and avoid thefettucini.

Personal

Professional

I am a Engineering Director at Google. My team and I work on Search.

Previously, I was the CTO at an 802.11 location and security company, Newbury Networks in Boston. In June, 1999 I received my Masters degree from the MIT Media Lab. I graduated from MIT (undergraduate) in June, 1997, in physics. Prior to that I was CTO of net.Genesis from 1994 to 1996.